Broadband Upgrades Buyers Guide

Broadband upgrade is a new term for the broadband world, before we had switching or signing up for broadband for the first time, but now more and more companies who you may currently get a complimentary service such as phone or TV are vying for your attention and looking to persuade you to upgrade your relationship with them to include broadband.
The most common upgrade paths are for Sky TV customers upgrading their TV service to include Sky Broadband and phone as well, or TalkTalk Fast Broadband customers upgrading to add TV or a Faster Broadband fibre optic boost.

What are the benefits of upgrading?

Upgrading is great if you are a satisfied customer and you want to upgrade your package so that your broadband is supplied by the same company.

This means that all extra charges will go onto the same bill and you won’t need to mess around setting up new direct debits, the whole process is hassle free and you you’ll only have a single point of contact for any problems, making life much simpler.

The most outstanding benefit of upgrading your broadband is that it will usually mean a lower monthly bill than having two separate services or allowing you to upgrade your speeds and download allowances at a very competitive price, in many ways it has all the same benefits as broadband bundles.

Is it difficult to upgrade?

Upgrading is simple, if you don’t currently have a broadband supplier, you just need to contact the provider you are upgrading with (e.g Sky) and ask them to add broadband to your service, they will then arrange your connection and send you any equipment you’ll need.

If you already have a broadband supply with another provider, worry not, under the Gaining Provider Led switching system this will all be handled as part of your upgrade without you needing to do anything else.

The provider you are upgrading with will have a dedicated support team available over the phone to assist you should you find yourself in the rare case of needing help during the upgrade.

Can I upgrade?

The only slight catch for some people looking to upgrade is that they may not live in an area where the provider they are looking to upgrade with can offer the service.

This is because the provider needs to have installed their own equipment in your local telephone exchange, if they haven’t yet upgraded your exchange then you won’t be able to upgrade.

However, it’s simple to check if you can get a particular upgrade deal by simply using our broadband postcode checker. Simply enter your postcode and we will only show you deals available in your area, then just take a look at the results and see if the upgrade deal you are after is listed.

You can also call up the provider and ask them if upgrading is possible in your area and they’ll be able to let you know.

What are my upgrade options?

For most people looking to upgrade they’ll be looking to combine all their services through Sky Broadband given that Sky are the largest subscription TV provider in the UK, so we’ll use them as an example of upgrade options.

There are four options with one suitable for each type of broadband user:

Sky Fibre Broadband - up to 38Mb fibre broadband with 25GB of usage, usually £10 per month and often free for the first year. If you're a small household or not a heavy user of streaming media, this could be ideal.

Sky Fibre Unlimited - fibre optic broadband from Sky giving high download speeds combined with a truly unlimited data allowance gives a package that in terms of capability is hard to beat.

Sky Fibre Max - the fastest possible Sky Fibre, up to 76Mb and also truly unlimited. Ideal for busy homes with lots of internet connected devices. Not available in as many areas as the other packages, so it’s important to check you can get it.